A Good Day in Gdansk

Next to be added to the list of places it never occurred to me to visit: Poland. Specifically, Gdansk, Poland, although specificity isn’t really critical here.

When I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I didn’t know much about Poland. I knew there were a bunch of politically incorrect jokes about its inhabitants for reasons I never – and still don’t – understood. I knew the newly appointed Pope in 1978 was Polish and it was a big deal. And later, I heard lots of news stories that I didn’t entirely grasp about Lech Wałęsa and his leadership in a strike in 1980 that eventually brought Poland’s (and other European nations’) independence.  Beyond that, I knew nothing about Poland other than it had great sausages and it had a communist history and it was “over there” somewhere.

While I wasn’t sure what to expect today, I was still surprised. In a good way!

We arrived in a rather modern port city called Gdynia. We then boarded a bus and traveled about an hour to the larger and more historic city of Gdansk. Like a lot of European cities, Gdansk has an old, historic center (like, centuries old) surrounded by more modern city living. Like most cruise tours, we spent most of our time in the historic center.

I was surprised by how colorful Gdansk is. Literally colorful. While a bit muted, many of the buildings were painted in pastels. Many were also very ornate, decorated in the very busy Baroque style. The architecture was very pretty and much more lively than I expected. I guess I assumed everything would be boring cement squares? Although most of the buildings looked very old, many were actually careful reproductions of buildings that had once been there but were destroyed in WWII.

Beautiful buildings in the Main City!
There was a conference of fancypants
politicians and such to discuss how much they
don't like Russia. LOTS of security and microphones.

Długa (Long Street) in the Main City 
with the Golden Gate at the end.
Yes, I had to refer to a map.

I'm pretty sure this is a train station.
Yep, Google just confirmed it! This is
Gdańsk Główny train station, built in 1900.

St. Mary's Church at the end of the row of
pretty, pastel buildings

Gdansk’s historic Main City has cobblestone streets, remnants of medieval protective walls, and lots of narrow, winding streets. Pretty much all the essentials in an old European city.

But there was also a slight heaviness. 

Gdansk didn’t have the breezy lightness that the historic part of Bruges in Belgium had. Gdsansk felt more tired, a little more determined, a bit weary. That’s not entirely surprising if you think about Poland’s history. It was fought over and had its borders change so often, looking at Poland on an old map is a great way to figure out when the map was drawn. Even Poland’s more recent history in just my lifetime of living under communist rule and fighting for its freedom is full of challenges. So a vibe of weariness has been earned.

Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970

Piece of the Berlin Wall just hanging out on 
the sidewalk. So disappointed we could only
see it from the bus.

After we walked around a bit (pedometer clocked in at 3.5 miles today), we spent some time in an amber museum and then got a “special presentation” (sales pitch) at a certified amber retailer. To be fair, I knew what I was signing up for when I booked the tour. I was just curious about why amber was listed as a tourist attraction in Poland.

The gist of the amber story is this ancient tree sap is concentrated in parts of Poland, so it’s become A Thing. This brown resin can be burned as a heat or light source, and some say it has medicinal properties when sipped as a tea or used topically after aging it in alcohol for a month like you might do with a vanilla bean to make extract (Rob did that once – it was pretty cool! With the vanilla, not the amber.)

Nope, not a loaf of crusty bread. That there is a
hunk of amber!

These days, Poland works hard to convince tourists that they must purchase their own piece of Polish Amber. They are also quite proud of the teensy lizard that was found encased in a piece of amber (officially called an inclusion) in 1997. Craftspeople turn the non-lizardy glassy rocks into all types of jewelry and odds and ends for the discerning tourist.

Just a few of the buggy inclusions
included in the museum

The Pride of Poland aka The Inclusion Lizard

For all your amber jewelry needs.
We were told you can tell if amber is
real by putting it in a jar of saltwater
and seeing if it will float. A vat of saltwater
is suspiciously missing here...

Maybe a clock? Honestly, it looks
really bready to me.

Clearly, artists have run out of ways to use amber

I don’t really wear anything brown or yellow, so I was excited to find some pretty red amber earrings in the certified amber retailer's display case. Hopeful the modest dangles would make a great memento of my day in Gdansk, I almost stifled a laugh when I was told they cost $1,620. I bought a candle and a refrigerator magnet instead.

Rob and I embraced our remaining free time in Gdansk by eating. As we do.

We found a sidewalk café and relaxed with a view of the Green Gate on one end of the central Main City thoroughfare and the Golden Gate on the other (no mention was made of San Francisco). We ordered two different types of pierogi: one set of dumplings was cheese-filled and the other was pork-filled. We paired them with a local beer (sweet and yeasty!) and a Polish wine (sweet and grapey!). We probably should have also ordered a sausage. Nevertheless, everything we ordered was pretty dang good. Getting a literal taste of Poland was my favorite part of the day. Big surprise.  

It was MUCH more crowded than this!

Wonderfully doughy. I liked the 
cheese pierogi just a little better -
it had a nice dousing of black pepper.

I didn't even come close to finishing
this beer. It wasn't particularly strong
or particularly memorable. But it was fun!

If I ever go back to Poland, I will go
with more room in my tummy.

So, that was Poland. It was bizarre to be there. Rob and I both enjoyed it more than we expected to. But as good as the pierogis were, it’s not a place we anticipate or will strive to visit again. Super cool to visit, though, as neither of us could have imagined that as kids in the '80s.

Outside the Golden Gate, with the
Main City behind us

Next stop: Visby, Sweden!